Spiritual Warfare

My good friend, Kathi Avarbuch, sent me the following:

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There was a little old lady, who every morning stepped onto her front porch, raised her arms to the sky, and shouted: “PRAISE THE LORD!”

One day an atheist moved into the house next door.

He became irritated at the little old lady. Every morning he'd step onto his front porch after her and yell: “THERE IS NO LORD!”

Time passed with the two of them carrying on this way every day.

One morning, in the middle of winter, the little old lady stepped onto her front porch and shouted: “PRAISE THE LORD! Please Lord, I have no food and I am starving, provide for me, oh Lord!”

The next morning she stepped out onto her porch and there were two huge bags of groceries sitting there.

“PRAISE THE LORD!” she cried out. “HE HAS PROVIDED GROCERIES FOR ME!”

The atheist neighbor jumped out of the hedges and shouted: “THERE IS NO LORD; I BOUGHT THOSE GROCERIES!”

The little old lady threw her arms into the air and shouted: “PRAISE THE LORD! HE HAS PROVIDED ME WITH GROCERIES AND MADE THE DEVIL PAY FOR THEM!”

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LOL! What a great story.

If you’d like to pass it along, save yourself a whole lot of cutting and pasting, and just send the URL of this blog page to all your friends. That way, some might find out about our blog, or our church, how the Spirit is alive in our fellowship, or even how God might be calling them. Of course, acceptance is optional, but we always put the offer out there anyway.

In this funny little story, I see a wonderful spiritual warrior in the little old lady. She is faithful, she is bold, she is steadfast, and… she knows her enemy!

She is faithful. Even though she is old, she continues to praise the Lord.

She is bold. She knows that the spiritual battle is ongoing, so she encourages her portion of the world by proclaiming: “Praise the Lord!”

She is steadfast. In the face of criticism, denial, and mocking, she continues to hold her spiritual ground. She never retreats, she never falters, and she never stops offering praise to the Lord.

She knows her enemy. With her supply lines cut, and under physical attack, she still continues to praise the Lord. When her neighbor jumps out and claims victory, you can see that she knows her [real] enemy… and that she knows the real power of the Lord even better as she proclaims: “Praise the Lord! He has provided me with groceries and made the devil pay for them!”

Notice that she didn’t attack her neighbor. She aimed her barb at her real enemy… Satan. She recognized her true enemy, and her enemy wasn’t her neighbor. Christ already taught us this lesson. Do you remember Jesus’ response to Peter saying that he (Peter) would never allow the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus to happen? In Matthew 16:23, Jesus turned to Peter, but was rebuking the enemy when he said:

“Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

Oh, Lord, when my neighbor is a stumbling block to me, help me remember to cry out: “Get behind me, Satan!”

Oh, Lord, when my neighbor has wronged me or hurt me, and I find it impossible to forgive… let alone love my neighbor… help me to remember to look into my own heart and cry out: “Get behind me, Satan!”

Oh, Lord, help me to be faithful, help me to be bold, help me to be steadfast, and help me to recognize my real enemy.

Oh, Lord, as I see the beauty of your creation, as I experience the wonder of being alive, and as I am filled with the joy of walking with YOU, may my heart and voice ever proclaim:

“Praise the Lord!”

Your brother in Christ,

Dave